On Thursday, a Criminal Court in Puntarenas ordered two months of preventive detention for U.S. businessman Patrick Vincent Hundley. He is facing charges of defrauding investors of $7 million and racketeering for transferring property attached with a lien. Two attorney notaries that worked with Hundley will also spend at least two months in prison.
According to a criminal complaint filed on July 16, 2013, investors made monthly contributions for a year and a half, totaling $7 million to Jacó Vista Mountain, a corporation controlled by Hundley. Investors never received shares in the company. Also, the real estate they sought to buy had a judicial lien against it, related to a divorce case in Canada.
Hundley is 46, and is a resident in Costa Rica. Since 2002, he has invested in the construction of condominiums in Jaco, through Daystar Properties. Hundley is also a sponsor of the second division soccer team, Jacó Rays.